April 1, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 48 Northwestern faces its first Big Ten road duals this weekend, taking on the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Wildcats (8-7, 0-2 Big Ten) are looking to bounce back from an 0-2 weekend while sophomore Joshua Graves (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) has reached a career-high No. 84 ranking in the nation.
Friday's match in East Lansing is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. CT. Saturday's match against the Wolverines will likely be played on the outdoor courts at the Varsity Tennis Center with live scoring available .
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State (11-7, 0-3) is also looking for its first conference win. The Spartans dropped a pair of 5-2 duals to Iowa and Minnesota last weekend, notching two singles wins in each. MSU has won the doubles in each of its 11 wins.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Michigan (7-7, 3-0) was 2-1 last week, defeating conference opponents Minnesota and Iowa, but falling to Stanford. The Wolverines have been dominant in the doubles point, winning it in 11 of 14 duals. Seniors Mike Sroczynski and George Navas each have 19 doubles wins this season.
Michigan holds a 65-25-1 (.714) record all-time against Northwestern, including two wins over the Wildcats last season. The Wolverines won a regular season thriller, 4-3, in Evanston and then won again in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern dropped two tough matches last weekend against Notre Dame and Indiana. Last Saturday, the Fighting Irish defeated the 'Cats, 5-2, in blustery conditions at Vandy Christie Tennis Center. Sidarth Balaji (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) notched his fourth consecutive victory with a win at No. 4.
Sunday, Big Ten foe Indiana defeated Northwestern, 6-1, dropping the 'Cats to 0-2 in the Big Ten. Andrew McCarthy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) notched the 'Cats' lone point with a marathon three-setter at No. 2 that ended 15-13 in the third set breaker.